MICROSOFT: People Are More Scared About Internet Privacy Now Than Ever Before

2014 wasn’t a great year for Internet security. Between the
giant Sony hack that’s being called one of the biggest corporate
breaches in history to the iCloud hacks that exposed celebrities’
private photos, there have been plenty of reminders of the
dangers of cyber space.

“Privacy has been a concern but
there’s no question that it’s reaching much higher levels than
we’ve seen before,” Mark Penn, Microsoft’s chief strategy
officer, said to Business Insider.

Most internet users also said they do not feel that they are
completely aware of the information that’s being collected about
them.

Microsoft

There was a strong consensus in
how legal matters relating to the internet should be handled,
too. Most of those surveyed felt internet users should be
governed by the local laws of the country in which they live— not
the local laws of wherever the internet service provider is
based.

The study took place between
Dec. 17, 2014 and Jan. 1, 2015, with "developed" countries being
defined as the United States, France, Germany, Japan, and South
Korea. "Developing" countries referred to in the study include
Brazil, India, Russia, China, Turkey, South Africa, and
Indonesia. Global research-based consultancy Penn Schoen
Berland did the polling.